Monday, January 28, 2008

In his current arc within the pages of“Action Comics,” Johns has returned the original members of the Legion of Super-Heroes – Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy – to the forefront of DCU, and readers are loving it. So is Johns.

“When Superman was growing up, he had no friends and finally he got some friends that he could relate too. That’s the coolest thing about the original Legion. But once our Legion arc run is up, it’s not the end of the Legion,” said Johns.

“The entire purpose of this arc is really to introduce the Legion to someone who has never heard of it. And show why they are so important to Superman. That’s why this Legion story works because of their connection to Superman and Superman’s connection to them. There is a really special connection that makes Superman, Superman. He wasn’t Bruce Wayne when he was a kid. Even though he was an outsider, he had friends, friends who were beyond anything that he ever could have imagined. They were just like him. They were aliens, who looked like him, who came to Earth.”

NRAMA: Yeah! Let's talk about you getting back to the Legion of Super-Heroes. Have you started writing their part?

KG: I've written two issues so far.

NRAMA: And how does it feel to get back to those characters? It's been awhile for you, hasn't it?

KG: Yeah, it's been awhile. Legion of Super-Heroes is a concept that always exerts this weird type of siren song to me. I swear, I'm walking around, going "I've got to touch them again." And I wind up back toying around with them. This is something I thought would be interesting to play around with. I haven't dealt with the characters for awhile. This is an opportunity to go in and remind people of my take on the characters without violating anything that's gone on since I was on the book. And that's fun. It's fun to play around with those characters again. I've got a fondness for the concept.

NRAMA: Well, they've gotten a little bit of a resurgence recently, not only with the new version of the Legion in the current ongoing, but with that Action Comics storyline right now.

KG: Yeah, there's Action Comics. There's Jim Shooter coming back to the series -- one of the guys who put Legion of Super-Heroes on the map.

It seems like almost like a comic book reunion with John Ostrander coming back to do Suicide Squad right -- 'cause I sure didn't -- and Jim Shooter coming back to the Legion of Super-Heroes. People who helped shepherd these people through their most popular periods are coming back to play with them again. You know I'm a huge supporter of new talent, but why not have some of these guys give it a shot too? See if lightning strikes twice. I'm kind of pleased by that.

NRAMA: Getting back to the Legion story you're writing within this crossover -- there have been a few different versions of the Legion. Is it safe to assume this is going to be the Legion you wrote?

KG: Uh... nope!

NRAMA: No? Oh, OK. So this is a different Legion?

KG: Uh... kinda. Sorta. Maybe. Yeah. Well, it's a different Legion than I've ever written or I've ever had anything to do with. Yeah. People will have to read the story to find out more about it.

NRAMA: Just to clarify, picking up the art reins on Wonder Woman isn't your first DC work under your exclusive, right? You're doing a Legion issue first?

AL: Although, I realize that there is a strong following for the Legion and that there always has been, it was not a book that I had ever really read. There was a gap in my schedule while I was waiting on the first Wonder Woman script, so Dan DiDio and Mike Marts contacted me about helping on the book. I was very excited to get the opportunity to work with the legend that is Jim Shooter on a series that is very popular.

I discovered very quickly why the book is so popular! It has great characters and the charm of a classic comic. It is so refreshing to work on a book that has superheroes being superheroes. The experience really energized me and got me ready for Wonder Woman. It is only one issue, but I am really glad I got the opportunity to do it.

Monday, January 21, 2008

There's another new wave of Heroclix figures coming soon, in the "Crisis" set. The two Legion-related figures seen so far are Dawnstar (Pre-Crisis costume) and Mordru (Post-Zero Hour costume, as seen in the JSA series). The figure set includes the original Crisis on Infinite Earths and the recent Infinite Crisis and 52. See the Dawnstar and Mordru discussions on the HCRealms message board, with this article on Mordru.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Newsarama shows three variant covers for Action Comics 860, 861, and 862, parts 3-5 of the 6-part "Superman and the Legion" storyline. Action 860 is already out with the Steve Lightle cover, and we have seen a black-and-white version of the Grell cover to issue 861. Now we have the color version with trade dress of 861, and a look at the Keith Giffen cover to issue 862. Click each to embiggen.

In a comment on his site, Todd Klein said that he did not do this newest logo and doesn't know who did, but "it does look something like one of my old designs."

Todd did most of the Legion logos (see his Legion logo review, part 1, part 2, and part 3) from 1980 until 2007, all but "Legionnaires 3", both v4 logos, "Legion Lost", "Legion Worlds", and "The Legion".

Thursday, January 10, 2008

As usual, you guys got all the answers nearly immediately. Is there no end to your knowledge of arcane trivia? Here are the answers to my all-singing, all-dancing, all-v4 quiz:

1. Which members of the SW6 Batch were killed in an explosion?

Karate Kid, Chameleon Boy, and Princess Projectra. This was Giffen's second time killing Karate Kid - will he get a third chance in "Countdown"?

2. At some point before the White Witch joined the Legion, she may have been responsible for which Legionnaire's powers?

According to Doug Atkinson's 1994 v4-era FAQ, "Kono's mother was a major technology raider for Sklar. At one point she aided the Hag (who was actually the White Witch) and was given a blessing: her daughter would have mighty abilities and know glory and adventure as had no Sklarian before her. When her first daughter, Brita, was born, she turned out to have the ability to transfer mass between objects." I wrote "may have" because (a) I don't remember the details of the story, and (b) it's not clear from the above passage whether Mysa actually did something. If someone knows for sure, I'll take their word for it.

3. Post-Black Dawn, an underground group arose on Earth based around the Legion of Substitute Heroes, called the SUBS. What does the acronym SUBS stand for?

According to the above v4-era FAQ, it stands for "Superhuman Underground Battle Squad".

4. After he was freed from prison, Brek Bannin (the former Polar Boy) became head of the Tartarus underground resistance and later leader of Tartarus' official hero team. Who were the members of his team?

"After Evillo was overthrown and arrested, he became leader of Tartarus' official hero team, consisting of Stilletta, Styx (Evillo's daughters), Sugyn, Policy Pam [with the power to sell insurance to anybody], Spaceopoly Lad [has the power to finish any game of Spaceopoly he starts], and Echo-Chamber Chet [sonic powers]." (from the FAQ)

5. Which Legionnaire(s) spent at least part of their time with the Legion during the v4 era as an energy form?

Wildfire and Celeste Rockfish. Quislet would fit in here if he appeared at all during v4.

6. Who blew up the moon?

I was wondering if anyone would say Dev-Em, but it wasn't him. He was supposed to do it, according to the Linear Men, but when he didn't, they had to step in and pull the trigger.

7. XS and Impulse weren't the only ones who got their powers from the Tornado Twins. Who else did?

I have no recollection of her, but apparently someone named Mara Williams was given their speed powers by the Dominators. She joined the UP Officer's Academy after spending time on Quarantine. Her code name was Rush and she first appeared in v4 #51.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Because nobody requested it, this month's trivia is all about that period known as v4, the TMK Legion, the Giffbaum era, and/or the Glorithverse (in honor of the upcoming Final Crisis, I like to call it "The Great Disaster").

1. Which members of the SW6 Batch were killed in an explosion?

2. At some point before the White Witch joined the Legion, she may have been responsible for which Legionnaire's powers?

3. Post-Black Dawn, an underground group arose on Earth based around the Legion of Substitute Heroes, called the SUBS. What does the acronym SUBS stand for?

4. After he was freed from prison, Brek Bannin (the former Polar Boy) became head of the Tartarus underground resistance and later leader of Tartarus' official hero team. Who were the members of his team?

5. Which Legionnaire(s) spent at least part of their time with the Legion during the v4 era as an energy form?

6. Who blew up the moon?

7. XS and Impulse weren't the only ones who got their powers from the Tornado Twins. Who else did?

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Last week during the Festivus celebration, I posted my "Feats of Strength" trivia questions. Here are the answers:

Whose kids were Brin, Bran, and Loni?

Brin and Bran were twin boys and Loni was their sister, the children of Timber Wolf and Light Lady of the Adult Legion.

Whose kids were Ronn and Arna?

The children of Ultra Man and Phantom Woman of the Adult Legion.

Put these children (listed here alphabetically by last name) in chronological birth order: Lauren Gand, Pol Jath Krinn, and Dacey and Doritt Ranzz?

According to the 2995 Legion Sourcebook, Lauren Gand was born on June 27, 2994, about 4 months before Reep first approached Rokk about restarting the Legion; Dacey and Doritt Ranzz were born on April 13, 2995, two days after the destruction of the Moon; and Pol Jath Krinn was born on May 2, 2995, two days after the assassination of Tayla Wellington.